This blog is not intended to start any political debates. It's simply a birthday wish to one of my personal heroes.

I did a blog in November using this song, Eve Of Destruction, on the night before we voted for the Presidency. The blog had the same title.

The song was actually written by P.F. Sloan in 1965. Barry McGuire sang it, and Sloan played in the band. The song was banned by some radio stations in the USA, the BBC and Radio Scotland. Here is some information I found on it.

The song is a grave warning of imminent apocalypse, and considered by some to be the epitome of a protest song. It expressed the frustrations and fears of young people in the age of the Cold War, Vietnam, the nuclear arms race, and the civil rights movement.

And this...............

Lyrical references

"You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’" refers to the fact that in the United States, men were subject to the draft at age 18, while at that time the minimum voting age (in all but four states) was 21.

"And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’" refers to The War over Water.

The song also makes reference to Selma, Alabama where Bloody Sunday took place.

"Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space, but when you return, it's the same old place." This refers to the June 1965 mission of Gemini 4, which lasted just over four days.

According to Sloan, the lyric "The pounding of the drums the pride and disgrace" relates to the Kennedy assassination.

While traveling home from work today, I was listening to the 'oldies' station, and 'Ray Man', the radio announcer, was explaining what happened to Barry McGuire. It seems the Government approached P.F. Sloan and told him he'd better 'get rid of' Barry. I know he didn't kill him. He turned 72 years old today. Furthermore, he has a website. However, that DOES explain why, after hitting the charts with a number one song......he seemed to have vanished into thin air.